Photo Gallery

The HybridCars.com monthly sales dashboard is a collaboration of HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market.

Overall May 2014 automotive sales were the highest since May 2004, and thus a stellar month for the market as a whole, and for hybrid and electric vehicles in particular.

In the case of battery electric and plug-in vehicles, May sales set some all-time records.

Hybrid sales were at a second-best ever high, exceeded only (slightly) by August 2013. Increases in fuel prices presumably played a role in this result.

The Prius plug-in hybrid had its best month ever and continues to lead the category. The Fusion Energi enjoyed its best-ever month as well, while the C-Max Energi continues at modest volumes as Ford formulates a marketing plan for this vehicle that was subject to a (downward) mileage readjustment some time ago. The Chevrolet Volt remains steady, along with the Cadillac ELR, both at moderate volumes. Plug ins as a share of the total market reached their third-highest level ever, trailing only August and October 2013.

Among battery electrics, Nissan Leaf sales in May hit an all-time high and consequently led the category by a significant margin. As Nissan has stated in the past, supplier issues have been resolved leading to higher production and therefore higher sales. Tesla Model S volumes are steady and down from peak levels since the product is being sold globally. The BMW i3 entered the market in May and sales will increase in future months as availability increases. (Note that we are including this vehicle in the pure electric category, even though the model is offered with a range extender as an option.) Most of the other battery electric vehicles are sold in low volume to meet regulatory requirements, particularly in California. Full electrics as a share of the total market reached their highest level ever.

Note also the relatively equal split between full battery electric and plug in vehicles, driven by stronger sales of Ford and Toyota’s plug ins and lower sales of the Tesla Model S (given its growth in global markets).

As noted above, hybrid volumes were at an extremely high level, with the following vehicles at all-time highs: Ford Fusion, Toyota Avalon, Honda Accord, Subaru XV Crosstrek, and Chevrolet Impala. The Prius family led the pack, but more importantly volumes were quite high (albeit not at record levels). The original “Liftback” sold almost 16,000 copies, as compared to the best-ever volume of 18,605 (March 2011). As compared to last month, total hybrid sales were up 32 percent (relative to the overall market of 16 percent), while sales relative to a year ago were up 6.5 percent. As a share of total sales, hybrids reached 3.3 percent, the highest level since the 3.5 percent share of August 2013.

Diesel volume in May was down from April, but up significantly from May of last year. The Jetta and Passat diesels both had poor months as compared to April, presumably due to the decline in incentives that carried April sales. Volumes for the Ram 1500 Diesel are still unavailable, although the product is at dealerships.